Railroad-car.



C. H. HOWARD. RAILROAD OAR.

PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZO,1906

CLARENCE H. HOWARD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RAILROAD-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 1906.

Application filed July 20, 1906. Serial No. 327,052.

To It whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE H. HOWARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at St.

, Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Railroad- Cars, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates particularly to the dead-block of a railroadfreight-car, which is used asa stop for the horn of the coupler whenbufiing, and ordinarily consists of a wood block having an ironface-plate or angle-piece and fixed to the end sill and projecting endportions of the draft timbers of the car-un'derframe.

The object of my invention is to provide a rigid and durable metallicstructure specially adapted for use'as a combined dead-block andconnecting piece or brace to the end sill and adjacent butting endportions of the middle longitudinal sills of a car-underframe in thosecases where the ordinary draft-timbers are eliminated and thedraft-rigging combined directly with the car-body bolster, such as inthe arrangement described in the Letters Patent granted to Harry M.Piiager, October 18, 11904, No. 772,370, for an improvement indraftrgear for railroad cars, or directly with the said longitudinalsills, as the case may be.

The invention consists in features of novelty, as hereinafter describedand'claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, whereon-- v Figure 1 is a front elevation ofmy improved combined dead-block and brace as applied to the end sill andlongitudinal sills, broken away, of a freight-car underframe in whichthe ordinary draft-timbers ar'e not used Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinalsection thereof on line 2 2 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, a top plan View of thesame, the sills being seen in dotted lines.

Like letters and numerals of reference denote like partsin all thefigures.

a a represent my improved combined dead-block and brace, which ispreferably composed of cast-steel integral throughout and may be of anysuitable design in con guration and cross-section, such as shown, orotherwise, as desired. g

The dead-block, proper, a, in the present case is preferably formed witha bottom horizontal projecting portion 1, whichis preferably box-shapedin cross-section and suitably configured on its outer face forengagement by the coupler (not shown) in the usual manner, the rear wall2 of the bottom portion 1 being extended upward therefrom for a suitabledistance and adapted to bear against the outer face of the end sill b ofthe car-underframe and thenceformed with an upwardly-extending offsetportion 2, adapt-,

ed to bear against the sheathing 3 of the carbody, which is insertedthereat between the ofiset portion 2 and the end sill b, as shown, theblock a'being secured to the end sill b therethrough bythe truss-rodbolts 4 and intermediate bolts 5 or their e uivalents, as

found most suitable, or, if desired, the rear wall 2 2 of the dead-blocka may be level throughout and bear against the sheathing 3 or end sillb, as the case may be.

On the under side of the dead-block a opposite or thereabout to the endof each middle longitudinal sill c of the car-underframe is formeda'depending portion 6, which in the present case is an extension of theboxshaped bottom portion 1 of the dead-block a, and from each dependingportion 6 projects rearwardly an arm a, which extends beneath and isadapted to bear at the top against the under side of theend sill I) andadjacent end portion of the corresponding middle longitudinal sill c,the bearing-face of thearma being preferably at right angles, orpractically so, to that of the rear wall 2 2 of the dead-blockc.

. The arm a may be channel-shaped, as shown, or otherwise incross-section and is secured to the'end sill l) and longitudinal sillc,nrespectively, by the u right bolts 7 7 as shown, or otherwise, asound most suitable. To the dead-block a on the under side ofthedepending portions 6 are fixed the end portions ofthe carry-iron dfor the couplershank c, Fig. 1, by bolts 8, as shown, or in an% othersuitable manner.

y this invention the end sill b and middle longitudinal sills c aremutually supported and firmly secured together in every direction'by thecombined dead-block and brace a, a, thereby greatly increasingthestrength, rigidity, and durability of the underframe.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a railroad-car, the combination of a metallic dead-block adapted'tobear against the outer face of the end sill, two opposite arms l Intestimony whereof I have signed my integral with the said block andhaving an name to this specification in the presence of extended bearinglongitudinally against the two subscribing Witnesses.

under side of the middle longitudinal sills, CLARENCE H. HOWARD. andmeans for fixing the said block and arms Witnesses: to the said sillsrespectively, substantially as I CHARLES W. BLOCK,

described. EDWARD W. FURRELIQ.

